Criminal Referrals

The January 6 committee speaks to history and the present

DAN RATHER AND ELLIOT KIRSCHNER DEC 20

(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

With a final historic hearing, the work of the January 6 committee came to a dramatic end. It has also only just begun. What we have learned should horrify us. Where we go from here should contend with that horror. 

Thanks to the committee’s work, we have a far better understanding of the cascade of events that brought us to the point where American democracy was put in grave peril. The congresspeople and their staff have put their indelible stamp on the narrative that history will record, and all who care about the continuation of this nation as a democratic republic governed by the rule of law owe these public servants a profound debt of gratitude. They refused to let this assault on our nation occur without repercussions, and in doing so they served their country well.  

Now others must pick up the baton for a final reckoning. 

There has always been a sense that this committee represented a sort of play within a play — a completely realized drama that was simultaneously encapsulated in a much broader narrative. We are contending with a former president who willfully and premeditatively worked to destroy the constitutional order that is meant to govern this country. His path was one of autocracy and chaos. And he came close to realizing his nefarious plan. 

The role of this committee was to gather evidence of these misdeeds and present it to three important audiences. 

First is the general public, who need to know what the former president and his enablers wrought so we can make informed decisions at the ballot box. 

Second is the Department of Justice, in whose hands the final decision of whether to try the former president and others ultimately rests.

And finally, the generations yet to come. It is vital that the history books contain a complete accounting of what transpired leading up to and in the aftermath of the violent insurrection of January 6. 

After collecting reams of evidence and conducting scores of interviews with those who had front row seats to the former president’s machinations and state of mind, there was little surprise that the committee ended its tenure with criminal referrals of the former president to the Department of Justice on multiple serious charges. A lack of surprise, however, should not be confused with acceptance or complacency. We should never lose our shock or outrage that these events occurred, and we should never forget those who were responsible, from the instigators to the foot soldiers storming the Capitol. 

Looming over it all is the former president, whose self-serving lies and unquenchable thirst for power at all costs set the insurgency into motion. He stoked and then cheered the violence. That it didn’t get even more destructive is a testimony to the bravery of law enforcement and their determination to protect members of Congress and the peaceful transfer of power. If the former president had had his way, there is no telling what would have transpired. But it would have been much, much more. 

Will this man, who has avoided accountability his entire life, finally be forced to answer for his actions? The committee used all of its persuasive power — and it was considerable — to argue before the nation that the answer must be yes. 

Now the former president confronts legal jeopardy from multiple directions, but the work of the committee stands apart. Their job was to lay the groundwork for the law but also to tell a story that everyone could understand, even if it is the stuff of nightmares. They did not shy away from the truth. They were not cowed. They spoke with force and unity.  

Hopefully enough people were listening.